The Teguise Agro-industrial Complex hosted this Thursday, April 20, the presentation of the candidacies for city councils, Cabildo and Parliament of the Canary Islands with which Coalición Canaria Lanzarote will compete in the elections on May 28; "170 men and women who will give a future, confidence and hope to Lanzarote and La Graciosa".
The event, in which the formation "displayed all its electoral potential", was attended by the general secretary of the Canarian nationalists and candidate for the Presidency of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, and the spokesperson for the Nationalist Parliamentary Group, José Miguel Barragán. For her part, the deputy of Coalición Canaria Ana Oramas, who could not attend because she was in the Congress of Deputies in the debate on the reform of the ‘only yes is yes’, sent a message through a video in which she showed her support and her total confidence that CC will govern Lanzarote again.
"Numerous public and organic positions of the organization at both the island and national levels were also present, who, together with affiliates, supporters and the general public, packed the space chosen for the celebration of this great event prior to the start of the campaign," they point out from the party.
The first to take the stage was the general secretary of Coalición Canaria, David Toledo, who, after welcoming, warmed up the atmosphere with clear and direct messages about the abandonment to which the eight Canary Islands have been subjected in the last four years, and encouraging people to go out into the streets to recover the lost time and space and to demand fair treatment for Lanzarote and La Graciosa. “We have 38 days left for the message of Coalición Canaria to sink in among the population. We must remember that we have built this land and that others are destroying it.”
The message from the candidate for the Presidency of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, was forceful: “On the night of May 28, Lanzarote will be more nationalist than ever,” he said, and spoke of a clear commitment by assuring that “the government of the Canary Islands that CC will preside over will put Lanzarote in the place it deserves.”
Clavijo recalled that there have been four useless years at all levels; from the loss of respect for the primary sector to the privatization of social services, going through each and every one of the sectors of a society that has difficulties making ends meet, that cannot access a fundamental right such as having a decent home or that suffers the consequences of the lack of infrastructure and health services.
The candidate to preside over the Canary Islands insisted on the need for all the people who believe in the message of CC to work with conviction because “it is not enough just to win, you have to win by a landslide so that they do not leave us out of the institutions because the future of all Canarians is at stake.”
For her part, the candidate for Parliament for the Lanzarote constituency, Migdalia Machín, spoke of the need to reconquer Lanzarote and La Graciosa “for those of us who live here and feel them as our own, whether we were born here or not” and of the pride “of being part of this family called Coalición Canaria.”
Machín recalled that the current governments of the Cabildo and the Canarian Executive “have destroyed the social model, have left us a youth without opportunities, older people without hope, a primary sector completely abandoned, without an employment strategy, without a future economic policy, without a management model for our public services.”
However, she stressed that “we have the obligation to take the reins again because the population is asking us for it, and to demonstrate that we do know about management, commitment, conviction and enthusiasm. We are people working for people and there is nothing and no one that can stop that.”
Oswaldo Betancort, candidate for the Cabildo of Lanzarote, began by thanking the islands of Lanzarote and La Graciosa “because an image is worth a thousand words and here today you can breathe change” and insisted that “the priority of our management will be to be empathetic, listen and demand from the Government of the Canary Islands with Fernando Clavijo at the head and with our colleague Migdalia from the Parliament that they respond to the needs of Lanzarote and La Graciosa.”
Thus, he highlighted that “we are not only going to see the problems as others do, but we are going to solve them” and recalled real and feasible commitments with each of the municipalities in issues as important as transportation, housing, health, education, accessibility, etc.
Betancort also wanted to recall the controversy generated when those who should ensure the well-being of citizens dedicate themselves to talking about tourist saturation without taking into account the consequences. “This happens when you govern based on what they tell you from above. Lanzarote is an example in the world and it is a pride. What is saturated are the services and they don't want to talk about that; but that is going to change,” he assured.
The first municipal candidate to take the stage was Olivia Duque, willing to follow the path marked by CC in Teguise, achieve the majorities that have been achieved since 2011 and become the first mayoress of the municipality. “It is clear, our formula works, from the beginning we understood that Teguise is bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions. That what is really important is to be able to govern, administer, direct, lead, steer or whatever you want to call it, but to do it for happy people is easier and that is our experience.”
The candidate for Mayor of Tías, Amado Vizcaíno, highlighted in his speech the need to recover the space that the resident in the municipality has lost in the last four years. “A stage in which absolutely nothing has been done for those of us who live here,” he said, and recalled the great shortcomings suffered by neighbors “who have seen how for many years all the interest has been placed in tourist facilities and avenues, forgetting that what is truly important is each and every one of us, the residents, and our quality of life.”
Emilio Machín, candidate for Mayor of Yaiza, spoke of a prosperous future for his municipality “with solutions to the transportation problem, ensuring that buses reach all towns and with schedules adapted to the needs of citizens, with an equipped police force, with satisfied neighbors because they have a home, young people who can study and train and older people who can enjoy, with the necessary health infrastructure and with everything necessary for the municipality of Yaiza to be the richest on the island and we can improve the well-being of our neighbors.”
For Víctor Robayna, candidate for Mayor of Haría, Coalición Canaria is the only political force capable of providing a government group that gives stability to the northern municipality “with closer policies and a strong commitment” and emphasized that “we continue to be the political force of reference in Lanzarote and tonight it is demonstrated once again,” while valuing the return of Marci Acuña to active politics, placing all his trust in the fact that with his experience and work he can recover from the Cabildo the place that Haría has lost.
San Bartolomé also claims Coalición Canaria. This is what the candidate, David Rocío, has assured, recalling the transformation that the municipality experienced when CC governed. “We have already demonstrated our capacity and we have already transformed this City Council when it was not working well,” he pointed out, listing the work carried out and insisting that after four years of abandonment by the PSOE, “the time has come to recover the investment, the infrastructure, the services, and for this it is necessary to bet on the burial, because the brands return, because employment returns and because millions of euros return to the City Council of San Bartolomé.”
In his speech, the candidate for Mayor of Tinajo, Jesús Machín, highlighted that “the Tinajo team is from the people and for the people” and that the neighbors want humble councilors who know how to listen to the people. “I have them on my team, I have found the ideal formula, mixing experience and youth.” On the way to his sixth absolute majority, Jesús Machín asked his fellow candidate for the Cabildo for solutions for the La Santa shelter, converted into a reception center for migrant minors, and also solutions for the problem of water and care for the elderly, among other issues.
Finally, the candidate of Coalición Canaria for Mayor of Arrecife, Echedey Eugenio, in the course of his speech emphasized the need to make the extraordinary effort to convey the nationalist message to all corners of the island's capital with the aim of achieving an absolute majority that avoids a new PSOE-PP pact that “has turned Arrecife into a dirty, abandoned city without a future.”
We have a project to “Lanzarotize” Arrecife, explained the nationalist candidate. “Lanzarote is beautiful and Arrecife cannot continue to be the great forgotten, we have to recover the splendor that it should never have lost. We are going to be a safe city again, we are going to recover our neighborhoods and we are going to recover the pride of being from Arrecife, of living in the third capital of the Canary Islands.”
Finally, Eugenio recalled that “Arrecife has a real opportunity to change and transform” and predicted that “for this, next May 28 with the support of Arrecife, thirteen councilors from Coalición Canaria will emerge from the polls to promote that change.”
